


they have their story here

by gizkas



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: 50 Sentences, M/M, Prequel to the movie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 15:36:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8996569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gizkas/pseuds/gizkas
Summary: It happens before he knows why--a blur runs by, then a merchant, and finally Baze’s fist, connecting with said merchant’s stomach.The first blur, a child wearing rags and holding a stolen jug of water under his thin arm, pivots mid-sprint and gives him a thumb’s up.This is how Baze Malbus meets Chirrut Imwe.“Hurry, follow me!”He does, and will continue to do so for the next forty years.--50 sentences on Chirrut/Baze, before the events of the film.





	

**Motion  
** It happens before he knows why--a blur runs by, then a merchant, and finally Baze’s fist, connecting with said merchant’s stomach.

 

**Cool  
** The first blur, a child wearing rags and holding a stolen jug of water under his thin arm, pivots mid-sprint and gives him a thumb’s up.

 

**Young  
** This is how Baze Malbus meets Chirrut Imwe.

 

**Last  
** “Hurry, follow me!”

 

**Wrong** **  
** He does, and will continue to do so for the next forty years.

 

**Gentle  
** The streets of Jedha are kind in their youth--the days are spent listening to the chants of scholars and eating alms, the nights are spent curled underneath the awnings of the temples.

 

**Blur** **  
** Baze savors the taste of the apple, lets it roll around his mouth, before a quick, smaller hand grabs it-

 

**One  
** “All are one in the Force,” an eleven-year-old Chirrut says with a lopsided grin, fingers tracing over the fruit experimentally before he bites down on the other side of it.

 

**Thousand  
** There are thousands of pilgrims in the streets of Jedha--Baze has never thought much about it, until the day Chirrut started giving them all stories.

 

**King  
** “And you,  _ you _ should be patient for the next harvest,” Chirrut says around a grin, his staff tapping against the ground like a king wielding a sceptre as he delivers another fortune; Baze sighs in the background.

 

**Learn  
** One day, Chirrut gives a fortune to a holy woman named Nei.

 

**Wait  
** “There are greater things ahead,” she says, holding Chirrut’s palm between her weathered hands--her eyes make contact with Baze’s, “If you are willing to wait for them.”

 

**Change  
** Baze does not know what lies ahead, great or otherwise, but he sees that mischievous smile on Chirrut’s face and knows he will only be able to follow once again.

 

**Command  
** Nei asks them to follow her to the temple in the heart of Jedha, the one that belongs to the Whills.

 

**Hold  
** Chirrut’s hand flexes around his own before they walk through the threshold.

  
\--  
  


**Need  
** There is a structure to temple life that Baze never knew he needed; the rituals and traditions bring him stability, simmer the urge to raise his fist.

 

**Attention  
** “You’ve missed recitations,” Baze scolds flatly.

 

**Vision** **  
** “I was studying for the eye exam,” Chirrut says from his spot on the courtyard grass, arms folded beneath his head--Baze sighs before lying on the ground next to him.

 

**Soul  
** Chirrut feels it all so much--the connections between life, the Force, between him and Baze--the spirit that exists in his body that he will never try to master because it is shared and therefore unownable.

 

**Picture  
** They make a curious picture to the scholars while they’re in training-- the soldier most devoted to the teachings and the spiritualist who naps.

 

**Child  
** It is easy to be fooled by Chirrut--his smile is too bright, his laugh too infectious--everything he does, including his faith, comes with too much ease to be believable.

 

**Fool  
** Baze is never fooled, it’s easier for him than it is for most to understand Chirrut’s heart.

 

**Mad  
** “Hold my staff!”

 

**Now** **  
** Baze looks around the market square. “What is it now?”

 

**Shadow** **  
** The small mooka Chirrut fished out of the gutter follows them home.

 

**Hide** **  
** They give the mooka (Chirrut names him Ossie, after the library) to the temple--Baze’s throat feels a little tight as the small creature runs happily through the grounds.

 

**Goodbye** **  
** Baze is called to guard the head priest on pilgrimage--it’s the first time they’ve been apart. His hand rests against the side of Chirrut’s face, thumb grazing over the ridge of his cheek. 

 

**Fortune** **  
** Chirrut leans his forehead against his. “Make sure nothing expensive gets broken,” he whispers.

 

**Safe** **  
** “And also be safe.”

 

**Sing** **  
** They return from the pilgrimage successfully-- there’s songs, a fire, and Baze’s arm around Chirrut’s shoulders as they laugh surrounded by their family. 

 

**Sudden  
** It starts with the arrival of the Resistance--soldiers, who take up arms and shelter in one of their holy sites; the violation does not sit well with any at the Temple of the Whills, but they know a true enemy is not Saw Gerrera, but the ones he faces.

 

**Eye  
** “How many are there now?” Chirrut asks, eyes narrowed and hands folded over the top of the staff he leans against.

 

Baze looks at the sky, littered with Imperial flags. For a moment, he thinks of lying, but Chirrut would know the truth anyways.

 

“Enough,” he mutters.

 

**Book  
** They are a pacifist order; they cannot attack unless the temple is threatened-- all is, as the Force wills it.

 

**Torn** **  
** The Imperials burn the outside first, then the walls, then the Holy City--their home; they fight to defend what is sacred as long as they can, but the Whills are too few, and soon enough they are fewer. **  
  
**

**Stop  
** “I am one with the Force,” Chirrut whispers into the dark the first night they return to sleeping underneath awnings.

 

“Stop-”

 

**Never  
** Chirrut’s hand finds his. “-and the Force is with me.”

 

**Ghost  
** “Tell me what it looks like.”

“Lost.”

 

**Time  
** Chirrut smiles, eyes staring out at something Baze can’t understand. “No, not yet.”

 

**\--**

 

**History  
** They have their story here; that, if nothing else, is what helps Chirrut hold his faith.

 

**Power  
** “There’s only us,” Baze grumbles, “The Force can’t protect us from the Empire.”

 

**Harm** **  
** “The Force hasn’t allowed me to come to harm yet,” Chirrut says easily, hoisting his staff over his shoulder.

 

**Drive  
** Baze discretely takes out the last trooper approaching behind Chirrut with a sniper’s shot.

 

**Wash  
** “This is a mess,” Chirrut scolds, fingers tracing over the hard lines of Baze’s muscle, scars, and the new open blaster wound.

 

“You can’t see it.”

 

“Even worse!”

 

**Wall  
** When Baze is asleep, Chirrut sneaks out to walk the streets of Jedha by himself--his staff traces the edge of every wall, committing it to memory as he tries his best not to waiver from the path which lies ahead

 

(i am one with the Force, and the Force is with me)

((they have their story here)).

 

**Bother  
** He watches the woman Chirrut calls out to, the one with the kyber crystal around her neck, and a premature headache starts to form.

 

**Danger  
** “They will harm her,” Chirrut says, a frown on his face as he rubs his hands over the edge of his staff, “If we do not  _ act, _ Baze.”

 

**Naked  
** He does not often feel fear, but Baze knows what it is when he sees Chirrut face off against stormtroopers alone for the sake of a stranger

 

(it’s always them against the odds, isn’t it?).

 

**God  
** The Force is not omniscient--it does not protect, or guard like they were lead to believe, Baze knows this.

 

**Believe  
** But Baze also knows that he does not need the Force to believe in Chirrut.

 

**Precious  
** So, once more, he follows.


End file.
